1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transferring apparatus capable of transferring articles along a transferring passage and carrying out the same to the side of the transferring passage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is a transferring apparatus called the "transferring and sorting apparatus", in which articles are transferred along a transferring passage and are carried out to the side of the transferring passage selectively in accordance with their kinds or their places of shipment at several positions of the transferring passage. The transferring apparatus is available in types, in which the articles on a conveyor constituting the transferring passage are pushed out sideway by a scraper or pusher and in which trucks or slats running along the transferring passage are inclined sideway to drop their articles sideway by the force of gravity. However, the articles to be sorted are limited because it is difficult to sort articles, which cannot be transferred by means other than a belt conveyor, such as small, bulk, light, thin or rough bottomed articles.
A transferring apparatus to be applied to the transferring and sorting of such articles is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-74823, for example.
This transferring apparatus is basically constructed such that a transferring member (or tray unit) moving along a transferring passage (or guide rail) is equipped with an article conveying belt having a transferring direction across the moving direction of the transferring member and such that an actuating mechanism (or a tray unit sorting actuating means) for driving the belt on the transferring member is disposed at the side of the transferring passage. Specifically, there is mounted on the transferring member through a pair of pulleys an endless belt which has a transferring direction across the moving direction of the transferring member. This belt is equipped with a plurality of guide wheels. Along the transferring passage, there are disposed a pair of straight tracks which engage with those guide wheels at the side of the transferring member. These straight tracks at the two sides are connected by inclined tracks which are disposed in the transferring passage in the form of a letter X. A vertically movable gate is disposed at each intersection between the straight tracks and the inclined tracks. By switching the gate at the side of the transferring passage, the guide wheels at the side of the transferring member being moved are sequentially guided from one of the straight tracks through the inclined track to the other straight track. As a result, the endless belt of the transferring member being moved is driven to the side of the transferring passage to carry out the articles from the belt to the side of the transferring passage.
In the transferring apparatus disclosed in the above-identified Laid-Open, the members to be driven (or the guide wheels) at the side of the transferring member are moved together with the belt across the transferring passage by the actuating mechanism (such as the tray unit sorting actuating means composed of the straight tracks, the inclined tracks and the gates) disposed at the side of the transferring passage. At the side of the transferring member, however, the moving distance of the belt and the moving distance of the members to be actuated (or the guide wheels) are equal to raise a problem that the actuation stroke of the moved members (or the guide wheels) at the side of the transferring member has to be made larger than the width of the transferring member so as to completely carry out the articles on the belt. In order to solve this problem, the belt at the side of the transferring member has to be equipped at a predetermined spacing with a plurality of actuated members (or guide wheels), which must be sequentially actuated twice or more by the actuating mechanism (or the tray unit sorting actuation means) at the side of the transferring passage.